Curated OER
What do Lenses Do?
Students learn to differentiate between different types of lenses. In this lens lesson plan, students discover how lenses are different and why a specific lens should be used. Students understand how to find the focal point of a lens....
Curated OER
Light and Optics
Students discover the relationship between lens shape and the formation of images in an experiment. They use three different size converging lenses and a diverging lens to calculate and compare the focal length of each. They graph and...
Cornell University
Building a Compound Light Microscope
What better way to learn how to use a microscope than building your own? A lab investigation has scholars use lenses from magnifying glasses and sheets of cork to design their own compound microscopes. They calculate focal length and the...
Curated OER
Reflection, Refraction & Lenses
Students are able to describe what happens to light when it strikes different materials. They describe the law of reflection. Students are able to explain why a mirror froms a virtual image. They are able to describe diffuse reflection.
Cornell University
Optical Simulation of a Transmission Electron Microscope
Don't have an electron microscope? Have your classes build the next best thing! A hands-on lesson asks scholars to build a model of Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). They then use their models to identify the function of each...
Curated OER
Focusing on Lenses
Students explore scientific observations by examining the parts of a microscope. In this optics lesson, students discuss the importance of a focal point and focal distance when utilizing an optical device such as a microscope. Students...
Curated OER
Focusing Light With a Lens
Students experiment with a converging lens. They observe the image of an object through a lens. They determine the magnification of the lens.
Curated OER
Building a Telescope
Young scholars construct a simple refracting telescope. They calculate the magnification.
Curated OER
Microscopes and Telescopes
Young scholars analyze a microscope and study what they do. In this investigative lesson students study how microscopes were first invented, and how ray diagrams are used in conjunction.
Curated OER
Pinhole Viewer
Pupils make a pinhole viewer to demonstrate how it inverts light passing through it which produces inverted images.